Dynamically tunable magnon-magnon coupling in synthetic antiferromagnets

The richness in both the dispersion and energy of antiferromagnetic magnons has spurred the magnetism community to consider antiferromagnets for future spintronic/magnonic applications. However, the excitation and control of antiferromagnetic magnons remains challenging, especially when compared to ferromagnetic counterparts. A middle ground is found with synthetic antiferromagnet metamaterials, where acoustic and optical magnons exist at GHz frequencies. In these materials, the magnon energy spectrum can be tuned by static symmetry-breaking external fields or dipolar interactions hybridizing optical and acoustic magnon branches. Here, we theoretically predict and experimentally discover an alternative pathway to strong and tunable magnon-magnon interactions. We develop a phenomenological model for the fieldlike and dampinglike torques generated by spin pumping in noncollinear magnetic multilayers separated by normal-metal spacers. We show that an asymmetry in the fieldlike torques acting on different magnetic layers can lift the spectral degeneracies of acoustic and optical magnon branches and yield symmetry-breaking induced magnon-magnon interactions. Our work extends the phenomenology of spin pumping to noncollinear magnetization configurations and significantly expands ways of engineering magnon-magnon interactions within antiferromagnets and quantum hybrid magnonic materials.